Lamentations 3:21 “Yet, I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope:” These words have captivated my mind and thoughts the last few days. A daily devotional actually led to verses 22-27, but this preceding verse caught my attention. Jeremiah, often referred to as the “weeping prophet” wrote these words. If you don’t know much about the prophet Jeremiah, I’d encourage you to do a bit of research and read about some of the things this man endured during his life, and some of the things God called him to endure as a prophet. Lamentations 3:1-3 gives us a glimpse “I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath. He has driven me away and forced me to walk in darkness instead of light. Yes, he repeatedly turns his hand against me all day long.”. The entire book of Lamentations is mostly a recounting of the poor state of God’s chosen people, and the hardships this prophet has walked through as God tries to capture their attention. 

So often we Christians tend to pull “feel good” verses out of the Bible without understanding the context in which they were written. The following few verses where Jeremiah shares his reason for hope are some of those “feel good” verses.  Lamentations 3:22-26– “Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness! I say, “The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the person who seeks him. It is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.” Can you see how these words take on new meaning with just a bit of history and context! 

The point is -if Jeremiah can call to mind a reason to have hope, those of us who call ourselves Christians should be able to do the same, perhaps even more so today. You see, we know more of the story. We know Jesus came to redeem us and that He is coming again! We know even more of God’s faithfulness and mercies! Yet, it is so easy to lose sight of all the reasons we too can have hope. There writer of the song  Come Thou Fount  captures one of the reasons we struggle so well, when he says “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love”. Oh how I feel these words at times! We or at least I am a wanderer and in my wandering away from God I tend to forget that my arms, my shoulders and my heart were not designed for or meant to carry the burdens I seem to want to lug around with me. Life is obviously too heavy for me! You know why? Carrying burdens is NOT MY JOB! Never has been and never will be! We have a Savior- Jesus, who was made strong enough and more than able to carry the weight of life! He wants to carry it and will willingly do so, if and when we let him. 

 1 Chronicles 16:7-36 contains a call to remember and recount and tell of God’s wondrous works. This is so important because it helps us remember God’s faithfulness! It helps us remember all the times and ways God did show up! Our fickle minds and hearts can only see and focus on what we don’t have and those things that are not going according to our plan. We need to remember and be reminded that God is still working! 

Another consequence of wandering and the forgetfulness it brings is that worry tends to sneak into our hearts and minds. We can easily become convinced that life is too hard, this season is just not worth it, and it can feel like there is no light and no hope. Personally, I’m prone to start questioning everything I do and wonder if it even matters. Romans 8:28 however, reminds us of this important truth: “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Notice that the apostle Paul says all things, not most things or some things but ALL things! And even better a few verses later we read “What, then, are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?  He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything?” We can have hope, because God’s got this, whatever your this is! 

Why not spend some time today calling to mind your reasons to have hope?  Being completely transparent, I’ll share a bit of my reason for hope: “I can hope because God is good. At the end of the day, regardless of how messy, frustrating, discouraging and messed up it was – God is still God and He is still good. God loved first and continues to love, in the midst of my sin and doubt. God gave His best in Jesus and continues to give and provide for my every need. He stretches me, grows me, leads me and teaches me. There is never, not even one second when God is not God, when he does not have absolute sovereignty and authority. There is not one single second when He is not right here with me, because His Spirit lives in me.” 

We serve the same God we read about in the Bible! Yes, He did some pretty awesome and amazing things back then, but He is still doing them – we just tend to forget and downplay the miraculous things we see and experience today. Don’t lose hope or forget your reason for hope – He still lives!!